Electric-railway trolley



(No Model.)

0. J. VAN DEPOELE. ELECTRIC RAILWAY TROLLEY.

No. 488,929. Patented Dec. 27,1892.

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CHARLES J. VAN DEPOELE, OF LYNN, MASSACHUSETTS; G. A. OOFFIN AND ALBERTVVAHL, EXEOUTORS OF SAID VAN DEPOELE, DECEASED, AS- SIGNORS TO THETHOMSON-HOUSTON ELECTRIC COMPANY, OF BOSTON,

MASSACHUSETTS.

ELECTRIC-RAILWAY TROLLEY.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N 0. 488,929, datedDecember 27, 1892.

Original application filed June 6, 1888, Serial No. 276,260. Divided andthis application filed January 31, 1890. Serial No. 338,736. (No model.)

- To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that 1, CHARLES J. VAN DE- 'POELE, a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing at Lynn,in the county of Essex and State ofMassachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inElectric Railways, of which the following is a description, referencebeing had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters and figuresof refro erence marked thereon.

This application is a division of a case filed by me June 6, 1888,Serial No. 276,260.

My invention relates to improvements in upward pressure contact devicesfor electric railways of the type in which the supply current is carriedby a conductor suspended above or along the line of travel, contactbeing established between the motor-carrying vehicle and the saidconductor by means of an arm extending from the upper portion of thevehicle and carrying a contact device at its outer extremity, whichcontact device is held upward against the underside of the conductor.The contact-carrying arm is provided with means for maintaining anupward pressure contact with the conductor and compensating forvariation in height thereof,and the said contact-carryin g arm is alsoprovided with an insulated or insulating connection extending downwardto some point within reach of the operator whereby the outer end of thearm maybe placed or positioned'as desired.

The invention also includes various details 3 5 of construction andarrangement, as will hereinafter appear.

In the drawings-Figure l is a viewin ele' vation showing a portion of anelectric railway, equipped with an overhead conductor 40. system andprovided with contact devices embodying the invention. Fig. 2 is adetail view on an enlarged scaleshowing the tension spring by which thecontact device is held up against the conductor.

5 In the drawings, A, represents an electric railway motor car.

B, are the rails of the track upon which the car A, is to be propelled,and D, is the main supply conductor which is suspended at a suitableheight above said track and extends parallel therewith. The saidconductor is sustained in position by cross wires and poles or othersuitable means, the particular method of suspension having no materialbearing upon the feature of invention hereinafter claimed.

M, is an electric motor, here shown as being mounted upon the frontplatform of the car A, and connected by a sprocket chain m, and gearing,with the axles of the front wheels O, of the car. A post S, is securedupon and properlyinsulated from the top of the car A, and in the upperportion of said post is pivotally mounted a contact carrying arm Q,which is provided at its outer extremity with a grooved contact wheel U,adapted to receive the conductor D, in the groove thereof and to passalong the underside of the said conductor, and to maintain electricalcontact therewith. The arm or bar Q, is provided at the part below itspivotal support with a spring S, which is secured to the said arm andalso to a short arm or bracket g, which is carried upon the lower partof the post S. The spring S, may of course be composed of a number ofsprings connected together so as to coact and may be, for illustration,substantially as indicated in Fig. 2. To the arm q, is also secured acheck-line g, which may be of any suitable material and is connected atits other end to the arm Q, at a point above its pivot so that, shouldthe contact U, become detached from the conductor, the check q willprevent its rising beyond a pre-determined height. This feature,however, not being es- 8 5 sential to the operation of the remainingones, may be dispensed with, if desired.

The arm Q, may be constructed in a variety of Ways without departingfrom the invention, but I prefer to form it of a bar of resil- 9o ientmetal, for example, steel, said arm being then carried upon a transversehinge and pivoted upon its support S. Furthermore, the arm Q, has aportion Q, extending downwardly beyond its pivot and to the lower end 5of the part Q, is connected an operating handle u, said handle beingpreferably of insulating material, as wood, and the same may beadditionally insulated from the contact bar by an insulating device to",applied at its point of connection therewith. The insulator u, should beof extended form so as to prevent water running down the bar fromdropping upon and establishing electrical connection with the downwardextension or operating handle it.

By means of the insulating extension to, the operator can raise andlower the contact device as desired, either into or out of'connec tion'with the suspended conductor. In many instances it is desirable to beable to lower the contact device, as when passing under obstructions,&c., or where the car is being moved into positions where no suspendedconductor arrangementis provided. To this end, I provide a pin,projection, or hook V, upon the car in such. position that the piece u,may engage the same. The piece it, is formed with holes or other meansfor engaging the projection V, and it will be apparent that by meansthereof the contact device may be secured in any desired position, byraising or lowering the piece it, and with it the contact arm and thensecuring the said piece in the desired position,by engagement with theprojection V. Furthermore, by means of the said insulated connection themotorman can raise or lower the contact device and also turn the sameupon its pivot when required. The insulated extension to, may of coursebe made longer or shorter according'to the length or position of thecontact carrying arm. The current collected from the contact U, maybecarried downward through the metal of the contact arm and its supports,or other separate conductors carried thereby, if desired, and saidcurrent is then conveyed by a conductor 1, to a switch 2. From theswitch 2, the current is further conveyed by conductor 3, to one of thebinding posts of the motor M, and from said motor, as here snown, thecurrent is conveyed by conductor 4, extending from the other bindingpost to some metallic portion of the running gear, through which it isconveyed to the track and'thence back to the generator.

The essential features of the invention may be somewhat modified inaccordance with the foregoing without departing from the invention.

This application being a division of a prior pending case, it will beunderstood that all matters herein shownand described but not claimed,continue to form partof the said prior application.

Having described my invention what I claim and desire to secure byLetters Patent, 1s:

1. In an electric railway, the combination with a suspended conductorhaving a grounded return, of a vehicle having a contact car-'65 ryingrod or arm extending to the underside of the suspended conductor, and aninsulated operating device for the said contact rod or arm.

2. In an electric railway, the combination of a suspended conductor, avehicle having upon it a pivoted contact arm, and an operating devicefor said arm extending down outside of the vehicle.

3. In electric railways, the combination of a moving vehicle, asuspended conductor and a contact arm extending upwardly from the top ofthe vehicle toward the underside of the conductor and provided with adownwardly extending hand lever at or near its lower extremity wherebysaid arm can be raised or lowered as desired.

4.. In an electric railway, the combination of a suspended conductor, avehicle having upon it alongitudinally pivoted contact arm, and anoperating device for said arm extending down to the end platform of thevehicle.

5. In electric railways, the combination of a moving vehicle, asuspended conductor, a contact arm extending upwardly from the top ofthe vehicle and provided with a downwardly extending hand lever at ornear its lower extremity, and stops arranged to engage the said lever tohold the contact arm in any desired position.

6. In an electric railway, the combination of a suspended conductor, avehicle adapted to be moved parallel with said conductor and carrying asupport, a contact-carrying arm pivotally mounted upon said support, aninsulated operating device for said arm extending down outside of thevehicle, a spring for imparting upward movement to the outer end of thearm,and a check fol-limiting the range of upward movement.

7. In an electric railway, the combination of a suspended conductor,avehicle provided with suitable support, and a contact arm extendingbetween the support upon the vehicle and the suspended conductor andcomposed of a flattened bar of resilient material, said bar beingsupported transversely upon the vehicle, and a spring connected theretofor holding the outer end of the bar upward toward the conductor.

8. In an electric railway, the combination of a suspended conductor,avehicle provided with a suitable support, and a contact arm extendingbetween the support upon the vehicle and the suspended conductor andcom- IEO posed of a flattened bar of resilient material. 7

In testimony whereof I hereto affix my signature in presence of twowitnesses.

CHARLES J. VAN DEPOELE.

Witnesses:

FRANKLAND J ANNUS, S. G. HOPKINS.

